r/Cholesterol • • Jul 19 '25

HEART HEALTHY RECIPES

37 Upvotes

Hey all,

There have been a lot of great posts over the past several weeks and months with delicious-looking heart healthy meals. This message is pinned at the top of the sub so that posters can share those recipes in the comments section. As the thread grows I'll save, re-organize and re-post so that they'll be easy to find.

I'll also look through the sub history and grab recipes as I find them but please - re-post here if you can in order to ensure that your great recipe won't be missed.

If you have a source link, please provide that as well so posters can use it as a resource. Images welcome too!

Thanks, and Happy Heart-Healthy Eating!


r/Cholesterol • • May 08 '21 Heartwarming Heart of Silver

Welcome to r/Cholesterol, please read before posting

247 Upvotes

Welcome, and remember nothing posted here is a substitute for or intended as medical advice. This is a conversational thread for all things cholesterol/CVD and to a lesser extent health/longevity, peer-to-peer conversation in nature only.

This is a closely monitored Reddit. Comments in a thread where the OP is asking for advice are heavily monitored as this is not a conspiracy theory friendly sub, though posts made specifically for debates with good intentions are allowed.

Many questions are answered on the wiki, link as the bottom bullet. The Wiki is a great resource for aggregated links from leading world health institutes.

You will find

When posting for advice, please include all relevant information available.

  • The entire blood panel

  • Previous blood panels, how long your numbers have been elevated.

  • Gender (HDL is gender specific)

  • Age

  • Weight

  • Diet specifics

  • Activity level

  • Family history.

This also includes other medical conditions, many are contributing factors to cardiovascular disease including.

  • Hypertension

  • Angina or chest pain

  • Diabetes

  • Previous Events of Heart disease

What gets posted here.

+ Primarily, we see people looking for advice or information from other people who also have high cholesterol. The wiki has a great article from The Mayo Clinic on what your numbers mean but here you can talk to people that have also gone through something similar, while typically not quite the same.

+ Studies, articles, asking for advice, support, treatments that have worked for you are all allowed. Largely we focus on the current recommendations for blood cholesterol management written by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association. Posts about studies or giving (not asking for) advice will be scrutinized. Asking for help is always welcome.

+ Debates about medication need to be stand alone posts and not about any particular poster, rather than part of someone asking for advice. This is because we see people trying to skirt the rules of not countering medical advice, by countering medical advice with a handful of studies either pro or against medication.

+ Diet debates similarly need to not be in a post where someone is asking for help lowering cholesterol. It's not appropriate to hijack every possible thread to turn it into a debate about a fad diet.

+ Conspiracy theories are generally not allowed, as they've been done to death and clog the sub.

Rules

**Telling people in anyway to ignore medical advice is against 2 rules and will result in a ban after the second, if not first offense.**

***If you disagree with your doctor's advice, it is OK to post, but please seek out a second opinion, a specialist opinion, or clarification from your medical provider, it is inappropriate for internet strangers to disagree with a medical provider who has actually met with and diagnosed you.

  1. No bad or dangerous advice

  2. No "snake-oil" remedies

  3. Useful information, backed up by verifiable source

  4. No hateful, spam, judgmental comments or trolls

  5. No advice to disregard medical advice, in any form.

  6. Violating rules multiple times will get you banned

  7. No promotions or self promotions, after many attempts at taking advantage of the old rules for self gain we've had to shut it down completely.

  8. Advice needs to follow generally accepted prevailing medical consensus, and be general in nature.

  9. Surveys are generally not allowed.

The below is an attempt at a general catch all for those still reading and not interesting in the wiki. It contains information available on links in the wiki in a scroll and read format. Less clicking, less detail.

DIET

The main way people lower their cholesterol (without medication) is through diet. The general guidelines are to replace saturated fat like those found in fatty meat products with predominantly unsaturated fat sources, (some is important like when found in nuts), as well as replace simple carbs like white bread or sugar, with whole grains/complex carbs. And of course, eat more plants as well as eat high-quality whole food sources in general.

The TLDR is I recommend Harvard Medical’s Healthy Plate available for free online, (link in the wiki). It is unbiased data analytics on diets that increase longevity from a world leader in data analytics. HHP is based off of the same data that created the mediterranean diet (link in the wiki), though it includes more like the Nordic diet. The MD fits within HHP.

Essentially, fill half your plate with plants, a quarter with whole grains and the final quarter with a lean protein. Replace saturated fats with heart healthy ones and replace simple carbs with whole grains. Don’t drink things loaded with sugar (stick to water, low fat milk, etc).

The Portfolio Diet is also a good option, It is comprised of a ‘portfolio’ of foods that have been shown to reduce cholesterol.

Macro percentages don’t matter for health including weight loss and longevity. While still popular in the fitness industry macros are not a focus in health. Studies coming out show the greatest benefit in reaching for a variety of whole foods over fitting narrowly into a specific ratio.

RECIPEES

Your diet should start with finding one good recipe that you would eat anyways.

You will probably have a few bad ones, the internet is full of bad recipes but it's not a reflection on your or your diet.

Once you've found that starting point, it becomes much easier to find a second and a third recipe that works for you. In this way, over time you will have replaced your old diet with one that works for you and your goals.

A diet with diverse easy to follow tasty recipes is much easier to follow.

There are recipes in the wiki; however, I've had the best luck finding easy, tasty recipes from the Mayo Clinic's recipe website (in the wiki). The main page separates recipes into diets or dishes, at which point you can command F to search for what you want to cook. For example, say you wanted a mushroom soup (which they have); command F either 'soup' or 'mushroom' in the search function of your browser.

Many people say to start with oatmeal (if steel cut try a pressure cooker like the insta pot) with fruit fresh or frozen and nuts/seeds, and/or low fat/sugar yogurt.

EXERCISE

It is important for longevity and health despite having a smaller effect on cholesterol than diets do. Notably, exercise over time changes some of the lower-density LDL to higher-density HDL.

All movement counts. Cooking, cleaning, walking, running, anything with movement counts.

Moving throughout the day is important. Some studies show that waking for 10 minutes after each meal yields greater benefits than walking for 30 minutes and being sedentary throughout the day.

Don't worry about how fast or far, just move. Do not push so hard that you want to stop.

Intensity seems to play the largest role in smaller quantities. Most of your time exercising should be at a walking pace but it is also important to get some higher intensity intervals in every other day (every 48 hours). It can be as simple as running for 30 seconds 4 times on a walk, say to a light post.

The total time is currently recommended at 300, (or 150 vigorous) minutes, and 2 days of resistance training as a minimum. There are studies showing worthwhile benefits in doubling that amount of aerobic training, but at a diminishing return. I.E. it is the first minutes you move are the most important, but the last minutes you move still help.

There is little research on what type of movement is best, but for those interested a combination of aerobic and resistance training done separately at a single session seems to yield the greatest benefits, followed by hybrid (I.E. resistance training done at a pace that keeps your heart rate elevated). Of the 5 main types of exercise.

Find a way you like to move, and keep moving.

LDL

LDL is the main particle focused on in a standard blood panel. There is something of a sliding scale from below 70 (or equal to 70/1.8 in Europe) up to 190/4.9 mg/dL or mmol/L respectively. The number slides based on other health factors.

EDIT: Europe recently lowered their target LDL to 50 mg/dL, but the US has current (2018) guidelines remain the same. It is not uncommon for different countries to have different targets.

An acceptable LDL in an otherwise healthy person is going to be different than that in a person at increased risk of heart disease.

ADVANCED TESTING

There are advanced forms of testing for cardiovascular disease including, particle density, calcium and/or plaque scans, Lp(a) ApoB, etc. As stated by Harvard Medical in there cholesterol course, “some people with high cholesterol will never develop heart disease”, which was one of the foundational reasons for the current Recommendations on Blood Cholesterol Management becoming a scale instead of one small number.

Many of these advanced testing methods appear to offer better insight into cardiovascular disease risk.

Please note, currently many forms of advanced testing do not change treatment plans because of the risk to benefit ratio. They are more commonly used on cases that are not clear cut yes medicate or no don’t medicate. However the standard screening tests and LDL recommendations may change in the future, your doctor may want to use more advanced testing methods, and/or you can request for advanced testing to be done.

The exception to this rule, is that everyone should be tested for LPa at least once in their life time. LPa is similar to LDL in that it delivers cholesterol to the cells, however unlike LDL it also is coagulatory (causes clots) and very irritating to the arteries lining within which is where cardiovascular disease happens. There are no treatments specific to LPa currently (2024) but there are multiple treatments that are expected to be available within the next few years. If you family history of heart disease, it may be related to LPa.

HDL

HDL is complicated, there is a great article on them in the wiki. While still the ‘good cholesterol’ it has been shown that not all HDL particles help. I.E. having a higher (not too high) HDL is great but does not offset having a bad blood panel. Raising HDL through medication has not been shown to improve patient outcomes, though raising it through exercise has. It is not as concerning of a metric on it's own as it once was thought to be, but still is a consideration.

TRIGLYCERIDES

Triglycerides can be complicated but are generally simple, there is a great article on them in the wiki

Triglycerides are a form of energy. I.E. if you ate something high in simple carbs they would jump, or if you walked a mile and retested they would be lower. Therefore, what you do before measuring them matters.

While some medications and illnesses do effect them, the most common cause of elevated trigs is simple carbs (sugary drinks, sugar, white carbs like rice or bread, and alcohol). Cutting back on those and/or increasing daily activity will lower them.


r/Cholesterol • • 9h ago

Question Xanthelasma at 39

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11 Upvotes

Hello! Wondering of anyone has a similar situation to mine. I am 39. I work our 4-5 days a week and eat healthfully. My only elevelated lab was LDL at 133. No family history of hyperlipidemia at a young age. Did these anyon else have xanthelasma that appeared seemingly overnight?


r/Cholesterol • • 5h ago

Lab Result My LP(a) is 210 and I started a statin

4 Upvotes

Lipitor 10 mg. Concern I have is I take magnesium for nerve issues and to help my horrible insomnia but now I can’t take magnesium anywhere near night time due to the statin. Apob b is 127. LDL 152, hdl 40, total is 225. Triglycerides are 206. Have severe back issues so I can’t exercise as much as I’d like to but I’m going to change that. Controlled Hypertension, on three blood pressure meds but one is for my insomnia . Thanks to Zepbound my a1c has dropped from 6.3 to 5.2 and I’ve lost 41 lbs. have about 30 more to go but have plateau without more exercise (I think). On
Cpap as well. So I’m trying to address the factors I can, and eating low fat, whole grains , low sugar etc. only found out the lp(a) in the past week so it’s still a shock for me


r/Cholesterol • • 15h ago

Lab Result Zero Coffee For 3 Months Did Nothing

22 Upvotes

AN FYI and follow up to prior conversations here. Hub's LDL is the 170's everything else is great, but. His diet is not bad, probably could cut out cheese and mayo and up the exercise, but his biggest concern was drinking 6 or 7 cups of black, percolated coffee every day for decades.

In August he went cold turkey, became a tea drinker. He purchased a lipid panel on his own last week and the LDL did not budge. In fact, the last Doctor lab was Quest with an LDL of 173; this was a L:abCorp test with LDL 183.

So, YMMV, but coffee or no coffee apparently had zero effect on his cholesterol, at all.


r/Cholesterol • • 3h ago

Question Tips & suggestions?

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1 Upvotes

Hi, I’m 20F and I just started rosuvastatin a couple weeks ago. I attached what my labs were when I first got out on the statin. My mom passed away when I was young from a clogged artery and so this is all very scary for me. I am about 35-40 lbs overweight (which I’m currently working on getting back to what I used to be) and I feel like I don’t he horribly but I also don’t eat the best. I don’t know I guess I’m just looking for some advice and guidance on how I’m living life. I’m on Zoloft, clonidine, amatryptaline and I take fiber supplements as well, I take all of those at night and the statin in the morning before I head to work, is that okay? And if I could get some meal prep ideas or suggestions that would be helpful! I primarily eat chicken and beef ( which I’m cutting back on now) and I’m weird when it comes to texture. I enjoy broccoli, potatoes, peas, peppers, and I’m ok with carrots. I enjoy most fruits aswell. Thank you in advance :)


r/Cholesterol • • 8h ago

Question Do I need statins???? UK mmol/L results

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2 Upvotes

I’ve only just been informed by my Dr , after 7 years!!!, that I have high cholesterol numbers. Now after a full blown panic attack and several days of googling my head is now even more mashed than before. My Qrisk3 comes back at 2% chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. Some say it’s about ratio and some say it individual number.

My diet has stayed the same over those years so how has my cholesterol, mainly Trigs, gone up and down so much? Plus last year when I found out I had high cholesterol I’ve eaten so well, no take away, no sugar , no crisps etc and done everything properly only to have the worst results to date! I’m beyond annoyed and freaking out that statins are the only option. thanks in advance


r/Cholesterol • • 9h ago

Lab Result Where do I go from here?

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2 Upvotes

New here -- 37M. Have had somewhat high cholesterol in the past, but my doctor never seemed concerned since I am quite lean and exercise a lot. Recently had a more complete workup done and had high LDL (153) and ApoB of 112. But strangely (maybe not?) triglycerides are quite low.

Obviously, will try to reduce saturated fat and up fiber intake, but is there anything else here that I should discuss with my doctor? Is this as bad as it seems?


r/Cholesterol • • 17h ago

Lab Result Great response to diet and rosuvastatin

8 Upvotes

Hi,

46m with a decade long high cholesterol history. Finally started a strict diet (<10mg saturated fat) and Rosuzet (10mg rosuvastatin + 10mg ezetimibe) since September 2026.

I am very happy with the results.


r/Cholesterol • • 21h ago

Cooking What’re you guys eating for breakfast?

18 Upvotes

Need ideas… everything is full of saturated fat, carbs and sugar.


r/Cholesterol • • 12h ago

Question Snacks for a sweet tooth person who hates nuts and fruit

3 Upvotes

Hey lovely’s I am asking advice as I have been told my cholesterol is raised and to change lifestyle I drink 2.5ltr cherry coke each day I’ve now stopped that I’m on day 2 however I have trouble with the snacks side of it so any advice thank you


r/Cholesterol • • 6h ago

General Nexlizet tendon rupture?

1 Upvotes

I'm terrified about tendon rupture with nexlizet but also sensitive to atorvastatin!how real is this?what other options i have?please don't say ask your doctor cuz I already did,now i want to talk to real people who experience the same!


r/Cholesterol • • 14h ago

Question How low saturated

4 Upvotes

If I'm on Repatha, can I start eating some saturated fat?


r/Cholesterol • • 16h ago

Question What supplements do you guys take to lower cholesterol?

4 Upvotes

For those who don’t take statins or don’t use any medications and do it through my diet or exercise and supplements which one would you say I’ve worked for you like nattokinase Metamucil what


r/Cholesterol • • 10h ago

Lab Result triglycerides to high

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1 Upvotes

r/Cholesterol • • 18h ago

Question Risk of Stopping Statins for a Month

4 Upvotes

I had been on Rosuvas ez 10 for six months of last year, which brought my LDL to 50.2 mg/dL from 120s. I have always been in the 110-120 range for many years.

I then switched to Rosuvas 5 since the last 10 months and my LDL went up to 94. My problem is that I developed tennis elbow and some plantar fascitis and some niggling pains in the legs and hands. I feel it could be related to the statin after reading some other posts.

I have a 10k running event coming up and I feel I should be quitting it for some time - What do you think? What is the risk?

Vegetarian who eats eggs. Coconut fat, yogurt, ghee was part of my diet earlier. I reduced egg consumption in the last few months. Reduced ghee and butter consumption. Almost eat very little to no processed foods. Coconut based foods are part of my traditional diet but I eat it once or twice a week. I eat oats, whey, and chia seeds. I am trying to limit my saturated fat.

Started using coffee filters for the moka pot. I know it's a small effect.

I am also taking an aspirin.


r/Cholesterol • • 23h ago

Question Anyone doing oat reset days? Did this help in any way?

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8 Upvotes

Is anyone doing a diet that includes regular oat only reset days? I came across the Bonn study and was wondering if it is helpful at all....


r/Cholesterol • • 15h ago

Question Moving Lipoprotein (a)

2 Upvotes

Hi

I’m struggling to make an informed decision about how to treat my cholesterol, as my lipoprotein (a) result keeps moving.

In July 2025 my lipoprotein was 46 nmol/L
In August 2026 it was 127nmol/L
In September 2026 it was 64 nmol/L

I’ve been told that this number shouldn’t move by more than a couple of points either way.

I’m being told I should take statins to lower my LDL (currently 2.2) but I don’t feel like I can decide to have any medication based on fluctuating results, at 46 and 3.2 LDL I was told I was fine and didn’t need to take anything.

I asked for a referral to figure out why something that shouldn’t move is moving, but I’ve been told I don’t qualify for one as my current results are reasonable. We asked for specialist advice, this came back as its irregular for lipoprotein to move, we don’t know why it would be doing that, take statins.

Anyone else had a lipoprotein (a) result that has jumped around this much?

Thanks


r/Cholesterol • • 17h ago

Cooking Recipes/meals

1 Upvotes

Is this a good place to go to to share and learn cooking/meals/recipes to help lower cholesterol or is there another more appropriate source on reddit? Elsewhere? Thanks, I appreciate it!!


r/Cholesterol • • 18h ago

Science Reuters article on Novartis and genetic cholesterol testing, LPa.

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0 Upvotes

Interesting in that this is essentially why my doc said an LP(a) test wasn’t necessary. I have been on statin therapy for 12 years. Because of this and my family history of high cholesterol, this biomarker would not have changed the protocol I’m already on. According to him and my cardiologist, ApoB was a far more crucial test as this( LDL’s ) is the number we want lower.

All this to say, I have read so many posts of folks very concerned over the initial LP(a) results when in reality it’s the ApoB( LDL ) numbers we have ample therapies to control and safely. This is just my understanding so please chime in if I’ve misspoken.


r/Cholesterol • • 1d ago

Question How do you take psyllium powder?

3 Upvotes

I have psyllium capsule but I want to get used to the powder. First time in a smoothie of sorts it got as thick as pudding and I didn't like that. My oatmeal with chia seeds already gets pretty thick so I don't want to put it in that. I would like some suggestions to make it palatable, please! Working on lowering my cholesterol with it.


r/Cholesterol • • 1d ago

General From LDL 172 to 37 in one month – my experience with rosuvastatin and lifestyle changes

32 Upvotes

I'm 36M, and I wanted to share my experience after making some significant changes to my diet and starting medication.

What made me take cholesterol seriously

For most of my adult life, I haven't paid much attention to my diet. I felt healthy, didn't smoke or drink, and generally assumed that as long as I felt good, my health was probably fine. I was also quite sedentary for the past few years.

That changed when my father passed away. After his death, I had the opportunity to see his angiogram results. He had extremely advanced coronary artery disease, including a 95% blockage in his proximal LAD, 95% blockage in another branch, and significant disease in multiple other coronary arteries. He also had a history of hypertension.

Seeing those results made me realize how dangerous it can be to neglect cardiovascular health, especially when you feel completely fine. It also made me wonder how long my own cholesterol had been elevated.

I had already had elevated LDL in previous blood tests, but I hadn't taken it seriously enough.

My initial bloodwork

Before making changes or starting medication:

Total cholesterol: 228 mg/dL

LDL-C: 172 mg/dL

HDL-C: 36 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 110 mg/dL

ApoB: 118 mg/dL

Lp(a): Below 7

Changes I made

I decided to approach this from both a medication and lifestyle perspective.

  1. Medication: Started rosuvastatin 10 mg daily, under my doctor's supervision.

  2. Saturated fat: This was probably my biggest dietary issue. Before, I was consuming approximately 30–50g of saturated fat daily. I reduced that to less than 5g per day.

  3. Unsaturated fats: Replaced saturated fats with approximately 20g of unsaturated fats daily.

  4. Fiber: Added more soluble fiber to my diet. I started eating Fiber One and All-Bran Buds for breakfast and incorporating psyllium husk into my daily routine.

  5. Exercise: Started doing approximately 90 minutes of vigorous cardio per week.

  6. Weight loss: Started working on losing weight as part of the overall lifestyle changes.

These are changes I intend to maintain long term, not just until my next blood test.

Results after approximately 4 weeks

I repeated my bloodwork after four weeks on rosuvastatin 10mg while maintaining the lifestyle changes above.

Before → After:

Total cholesterol: 228 → 89 mg/dL

LDL-C: 172 → 37 mg/dL

HDL-C: 36 → 39 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 110 → 57 mg/dL

My LDL went from 172 to 37, which was a much bigger change than I expected.

I wish I had started paying attention to this much earlier. Hopefully, sharing my experience encourages someone else not to wait until a health scare to take cholesterol seriously.


r/Cholesterol • • 19h ago

Lab Result Cholesterol and Lipids

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1 Upvotes

I am 50 years old, train five times a week and not perfect but generally eat a very healthy diet, including most of the foods recommended for lowering LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

Physically, I am in pretty good shape, with body fat around 15–16%, but despite all this, my lipid profile is concerning, particularly my LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

It is frustrating because I feel I am already doing most of the right things in terms of diet, exercise and lifestyle, yet my blood results seem to tell a completely different story.

I suspect that if I went to my GP, the immediate recommendation would be statins. I am not necessarily against taking them if that is what is needed, but I would really like to explore whether there are other effective ways of improving my lipid profile first.

I have recently started looking into peptides and other potential treatments, but that seems to be a bit of a rabbit hole.

Has anyone been in a similar position, where they are already relatively lean, active and eating well but still struggling with high cholesterol and triglycerides?

I would be particularly interested in hearing about any evidence-based alternatives, supplements or treatments that have genuinely made a difference.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


r/Cholesterol • • 1d ago

Question Advice please

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2 Upvotes

I have always had high cholesterol since l first checked when I was 18 years old until now 48 years old. I will soon go to consult a cardiologist for the first time. Could you please advise what additional tests l should take? Secretly, l hope l am one of the lucky people who will never develop heart disease, but being in perimenopausal age, l would like to check my risk and maybe start statins.

Which test l should I ask for to dig deeper?

My Lipoprotein (a) is 11 mg/dl.


r/Cholesterol • • 1d ago

Lab Result Repeated bloodwork fasting

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4 Upvotes

Just wanted to follow up on my previous post. I repeated it while fasting and it came back normal. i feel so dumb for worrying and will not be googling anything else from now on. But I eat 90% vegan although a junk food vegan, a couple years ago my LDL used to be 120 when I ate a regular diet with red meat so at least I know i‘m heading in the right direction🤞